Chelsea vs Benfica

Chelsea ended a run of three straight UEFA Champions League defeats, while the Blues remain unbeaten at Stamford Bridge in the group stage/league phase of the competition in 12 games (8 wins, 4 draws).

Benfica have lost each of their last four UEFA Champions League games, last enduring a longer losing streak in the competition between March 2017 and September 2018 (8).

Chelsea have benefited from 14 own goals in the UEFA Champions League, with only three sides seeing more (Barcelona 20, Real Madrid 19, Bayern Munich 18),

Chelsea have won all four of their competitive meetings with Benfica (9-3 aggregate scoreline), with the most recent of those coming earlier this year at the FIFA Club World Cup (4-1 in a last 16 match).

This will be the first meeting between Chelsea and Benfica in the group/league phase of a competition, with the previous four all having come in the knockout stages: UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2011-12, UEFA Europa League final in 2012-13 and the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 earlier this year (all won by Chelsea).

Benfica are winless in their last eight meetings with English teams (D3 L5), with their last such victory coming over a decade ago, against Tottenham in the UEFA Europa League (3-1 in the last 16 first leg). Meanwhile, they haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 18 games against English sides (since a 2-0 win v Everton in November 2009, also in the UEFA Europa League).

Benfica manager José Mourinho has only won four of his 14 matches against Chelsea across all competitions (D3 L7), while none of those victories have come in the seven most recent games (D3 L4), last beating them in February 2018 (Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea in the Premier League).

Chelsea are currently on their longest ever losing streak in the UEFA Champions League (three games). However, they haven’t lost a home game in the group/league phase of the competition since September 2019 (0-1 v Valencia), going unbeaten in each of the last 11 since then (W7 D4).